Detachable tool handle



Nov. 6, 1934.

J, H. RAST DETACHABLE TOOL HANDLE Filed Dec.

nub.

5 INVENTOR JULIUS H. RAST, BY

Patented Nov. 6, 1934 UNITED STATES PATENT- OFFICE 1,980,081 DETACHABLE TOOL HANDLE I Julius H. Bast, Charleston, S. 02 Application December 1c, 1932, en No. 646,630 16 Claims. Y (cu ls-s1) This invention relates to toolhandles and more particularly to detachable handles which are adapted to be secured to a number of different types of tools.

Files, screw drivers, awls. punches, and similar tools which are used in metal and wood working and in various other arts arein many cases provided with shanks which are designed to be inserted into a wooden handle, each tool presumably having an individual handle adapted to be permanently attached thereto. It is an Object of this invention to provide, a sturdy metallic handle which may be attached or detached at v will to any of the tools of this general class and y used therewith whether the shanks of the tools be tapering or straight, or rectangular, triangular or round in cross section. Y

A further object of this invention is to provide ticular tool being used.v

Another object of this invention is to provide a handle in which a tool may be adjusted and used in any one of a number of different positions 7 as may be desired.

Still another object of this invention is to pro. vide a tool handle which will have a finger hole therethrough to accommodate the finger of the user and serve as a means whereby the-tool may be hung up when it is not being used. Constant use of a tool handle of a given shape often brings unnecessary fatigueto the users hand, and it is an object of this invention to provide a tool which may relieve this fatigue by being adapted to fit comfortably in many positions in the hand of the user.

Other and further objects of this invention will hereinafter appear.-

In the. drawing:-

with a screw driver clamped in one of its channels;

Figure 2 is a view of the reverse side of the tool handle shown in Figure 1, showing a file clamped in one of the channels;

Figure 3 is a view of the inner face of oneof V With more particular reference to the draw-1,.

Figure 1 is a top viewof the assembled handle ing 1 and 2 designate thetwo substantially cot-- extensive members .of which. thetool handle is formed. These members are preferably cast from a light, tough metal such as aluminum or .one

of its alloys. The members have. main body por- 601...

tions 3 and 4 and rearwardly extending portions 5 and 6 which formthe finger. hole '7. The front adjacent edges of the body portions of these members are bevelled as shownat 1 and 2 to facilitate the insertion of tools between the members. 651w;

It is desirable'tomake all cornersof the handle which would. be exposed to the hand of the user somewhat rounded sothat the handle will fit comfortably into. the. hand regardless of the particular position in whichit may be used. 7

It is further noted that .the portions of the surface of the membersl andB where they meet the,

. finger hole '7 are rounded off. so that there are n a detachable handle which will furnish, a more I 20 comfortable and more. secure handle on theparsharp corners.

In the preferred, embodiment shown in the 751-. drawing. one'of' the members 1 has a plurality of gradually tapering channelsB and.,8 formed therein extendingin different directions and preferably of. different. sizeand. depth. Some of said channels suchasthose indicated at 8 are pref- 80... erably formed witha gradually tapering ,V-shaped groove in the bottom thereof adapting them 7 for grasping triangular and round tool shanks. These channels may be of any desired form .but are preferablysubstantially rectangular in cross- 85. section. andv of gradually increasing dimensions as they, approach ..the..edge of the member ,1.

This form. ofchannel has been found to be most satisfactory f0r..securing the shanks of.

various toolswhich it is desired to mount in the 901.:

handle.

A pair of. screws 9 are used for securing the two main members .of the tool handle. together: These screwsare passedthroughholes in the member. 1 which. preferably has a substantially 9h .larger hole partially drilled thereth-rough for counter-sinking thescrewheads flush or below the surface of. the member.. The screws are threaded into thebody. portion 4 of the member 2. The screws are, of such a length that even 10m:

when tightened down to the maximum position they will not extend or protrude through the sur-. faceiof; the members The heads of the screws 9 haveslots 10 therein .and are adapted for the reception of. a screw driver for purposes of ad- :1;

justment and are also provided with upstanding transverse wings ll-which permit the adjustment of thescrew members with the fingers in sub-. stantiallythe same .way as a'wing nut is adiusted... Encircling .eachscrewshank. .9 .andbe 11o.

tween the head thereof and the bottom of the counter-sunk hole is a coil spring 12 or a resilient washer which permits a resilient adjustment of one of the members against the other.

It is obvious that if a tool has a shank which is not particularly adapted to fit within one of the channels formed in the member 1, the roughened effect of the edges of the walls of the plurality of channels provides an excellent surface which will tend to grasp the shank of the tool regardless of its particular conformation in the same way as the jaws of a vise grip a tool shank placed therein.

It is also obvious that the members may be used to grip tools having substantially flat shanks and the handle may be used for the purpose of clamping a short or broken hacksaw blade, knife blades, razor blades or similar substantialy-flat' tools where the adjacent surfaces only of the members 1 and 2 are used to grip the tool. Similarly, if the shank'of a tool is too broad to enter one of the slots 8 or 8 it-may be clamped between the two members.

It is further obvious that a plurality of tools may be mounted in different channels of the handle at the same time so that each one will extend in a different direction from the handle and each one will be available for use as is required. In this case, however, it is obvious that the shanks of the respective tools mounted in the handle must be of substantially thevsame thickness and must be placed in channels which do not cross each other in order toretain all of the tools in the handle simultaneously.

It is noted that the general shape of the tool handle is of such a conformation that it will fit comfortably in the hands of. the user when mounted on a tool 'regardles of the direction in,

which the tool projects from the handle. It will therefore be seen that when a great deal of work is, being done with a given tool its mounting in the handle may be shifted from one position to another in order to relieve the hand of the user and present to the surface of his hand an entirely new surface. The finger hole with its rounded corners extending through the rear portion of the members may be found very convenient for one or more fingers of the user while using the too-1 in aparticular position and also serves as a very satisfactory means of hanging the tool and tool handle when not in use.

It will be obvious from the foregoing that there are many and various modifications in the shape of the tool, the construction of the channels and the arrangement of the particular fastening means for securing the separate halves of the tool handle together whichare apparent. It' is noted that the channels pass between the screw members which are used for securing the members together and hence regardless of the particular position in which the shank of the tool is retained, the shank or tool is gripped firmly by both of the members as a result ofthe pressure exerted by the screws 9. The gripping action is to a slight degree yieldable because of the springs 12 encircling the screws and this also tends to make the device adaptable to shanks of different thicknesses.

One of the possible adaptations of this tool relates to its use asa clamp such as commonly used for holding glued wood joints or mending parts, such as furniture to be joined together. This further use may be readily accomplished by substituting longer'screws for the screws 12 shown in the drawing, and the length of which screws obviously dependon the thickness of the material to be clamped. As shown on the drawing it is intended that the screws should not extend beyond either face of the clamp so as not to provide a rough surface by which the hand of the user may be hurt. If the device is to be used as a wood clamp, the screws might be an inch or so longer if the thickness of the wood is considerable, or if the article to be clamped is delicate and small, the screws may be correspondingly shorter.

What I claim is:--

1. A tool handle adapted to be held in the hand and manipulated by the hand of the operator comprising a pair of members and a pair of screws for securing said members together, said members having a plurality of channels formed therebetween adapted for the reception of the shank of theltool, said channels each extending in a different direction and passing between said screws.

2; A toolhandle comprising a pair of members adapted to be secured together face to face and relatively widely spaced fastening means adapted to secure said members together, said face, the exterior surface and entire periphery of said members being exteriorly rounded and of a configuration adapted to'fit the hand,.one of said membershaving a plurality of channels formed therein, said channels each extending in a different direction and adapted for the reception of the shank of the tool, the other member having a substantially plane face.

4. A tool handle comprising apair of exteriorly rounded substantially co-extensive members of a configuration adapted to fit thehand and a pair of screws securing said members together face to face, one of said members having a plurality of channels formed therein, each of said channels extending in a different direction, adapted for the reception of the shank of the tool and passing between said screws, the other member having a substantially plane face.

5. A tool handlecomprising a pair of substantially co-extensive members adapted to be secured together face to face, each of said members having a body portion and a rearwardly extending portion integral with said body portion forming a finger hole, the finger hole of each of said members registering with each other, the body portion having a plurality of channels therein each adapted to grasp the shank of the tool, and fastening means for clamping the body portions of said members together and securing atool shank therebetween.

6. A tool handle comprisingga pair of substantially co-extensive members each having a additional rearwardly extending channels a1 0,

formed between the. body portions of said members, and means for securing said members'to- Lgether. i 1

7. A tool handle comprising a pair of substantially co-extensive members adapted to be secured together face to face and a pair of screws forsecuring said members, each of said members having a body portion and a rearwardly extending portion forming a finger hole, said finger holes registering with each other, a plurality of channels formed between said members, said channels extending in different directions and being of various sizes, each of said channels passing between said securing screws.

8. A tool handle having a rounded peripheral configuration adapted to fit the hand comprising a pair of members and a pair of screws for securing said members together, said members having a plurality of channels formed therebetween adapted for the reception of the shank of the tool, said channels eachextending in a different direction and passing between said screws, one of said members being rigid and the other member resiliently mounted with respect to said screws whereby the members may be separated for the admission of a tool to be clamped.

9. A tool handle comprising a pair of substantially (ac-extensive members of a configuration adapted to fit the hand and a pair of screws securing said members together face to face, one of said members having a plurality of channels formed therein, each of said channels extending 10. A tool handle comprising a pair of mem bers having an outward configuration adapted to fit the hand and a pair of screws for securing said members face to face, a plurality of gradually tapering channels formed between said members, said channels being of various sizes extending in different directions and each adapted to seat the shank of the tool, one of said members being rigid and the other member resiliently mounted with respect to said screws whereby the members may be separated for the admission of a tool to be clamped.

11. A tool handle comprising a pair of substantially co-extensive members adapted to be secured together face to face and a pair of screws for securing said members, each of said members having a body portion and a rearwardly extending portion forming a finger hole, said finger holes registering with each other, a plurality of channels formed between said members, said channels extending in different directions and being of various sizes, each of said channels passing between said securing screws, one of said members being rigid and the other member resiliently mounted with respect to said screws whereby the members may be separated for the admission of a tool to be clamped.

12. A tool handle comprising a pair of members adapted to be secured together face to face and relatively widely spaced fastening means adapted to secure said members together, said members having a plurality of channels formed therebetween adapted for the reception of the shank of the tool, said channels each extending in a different direction and passing between said fastening means, one of said members being rigid and the other member being resiliently mounted with respect to said fastening means whereby the members may be separated for the admission of a tool to be clamped.

13. A tool handle comprising a pair of substantially co-extensive members adapted to be secured together face to face, each of said members having a body portion and a rearwardly extending portion integral with said body portion forming a finger hole, the finger hole of each of said members registering with each other, the body portion having a plurality of channels therein each adapted to grasp the shank of the tool, and fastening means for clamping the body portions of said members together and securing a tool shank therebetween, one of said members being rigid and the other member being resiliently mounted with respect to said fastening means whereby the members may be separated for the admission of a tool to be clamped.

14. A tool handle comprising a pair of substantially co-extensive members and means for securing said members together face to face, one of said members having a plurality of channels formed therein, said channels each extending in a different direction and adapted for the reception of the shank of the tool, the other member having a substantially plane face, one of said members being rigid and the other member being resiliently mounted with respect to said securing means whereby the members may be separated for the admission of a tool to be clamped.

15. A tool handle comprising a pair of substantially co-extensive members adapted to be secured together face to face, each of said members having a portion extending therefrom to form a ring, the ring formed by one of said members registering with the ring from one of the other of said members and adapted to lie adjacent thereto, the main portions of said members form channels therebetween adapted to seating the shank of the tool, and means for securing said members together and clamping a tool shank therebetween, one of said members being rigid and the other member being resiliently mounted with respect to said securing means whereby the members may be separated for the admission of a tool to be clamped.

16. A tool handle comprising a pair of substantially co-extensive members each having a body portion and rearwardly extending portions therefrom, said rearwardly extending portions each forming a finger hole, said finger holes adapted to register with each other, a, plurality of forwardly extending tapering channels formed between the body portion of said members and 

